THOMAS] INTEEPRETATION OP CHARACTERS. 159 



that tlie relative position of the two is exactly the reverse on one plate 

 from what it is on the other. 



As the burdens of two of these females evidently consist of their house- 

 hold gods, it is possible that those of the two just alluded to may consist 

 of the bones of their dead. If so, Fig. 94 may represent the skull and the 

 Ciuii symbol the other bones. In the inscription above the head of the left- 

 hand female, lower division Plate XX*, we find this character (Fig. 95), 

 which, according to the explanation of the parts so far as given, 

 should probably be interpreted (reading from right to left) P Af J)»iT<1| 

 cimen-ich, "the dead cliildren." In this interpretation the right- \^^^^^ 

 hand character is .given its usual signification ; the reticulated ^'''^- ^^• 

 portion, ch; and the two lines running upward from this, i. Still it is 

 possible that this explanation is very wide of the mark, as these charac- 

 ters may represent certain fruits or other articles of food, perhaps different 

 kinds of calabashes. 



The character represented in Fig. 96 is very closely related to, if not 

 a variant of, the Cimi symbol. It is found very frequently through- 

 out the Manuscript in the spaces containing the figures or pictorial 

 representations. As in a large proportion of these cases the figures fi«. m. 

 have some reference to death, the gods of death, or of the lower regions, 

 and as the character appears to be a variant of Cimi, I have designated it. 

 the "death symbol." 



It is found in connection with the supposed god of death in the follow- 

 ing places: Lower division of XXXV (when joined with XXXIV); lower 

 division of II*; upper division of VIII*; second and lower divisions of XI*; 

 second division of XXII*; middle division of XXIX*, of XXX*, XXXI*, 

 and XXXIV*. It is also found equally often with the god and goddess with 



this eye: ^!^v- It is also found with the god that has the dark stripe 

 across the face, as in the lower division of Plate III. Hence I am inclined 

 to believe that this and the other two are to be classed with the deities of 

 the underworld. We also find this character in several places where the 

 idea of death or destruction is evidently intended to be conveyed. For 

 example, in the upper division of Plates VII and XXV; second and third 



